General Chat

Dear Sylvia

I am so surprised that you are typing already, albeit with 3 fingers.

How lovely that you are improving so quickly,
though i guess you dont think of it as being quick. especially when there is still pain .

but arent you doing well? and when that drain comes out, whoohoo a lovely warm shower. That will feel great.

how nice for the hairdresser to offer to carefully wash and airdry, and get you looking good again.

your little outing to the cafe for a free latte put some interest into your day.
hope you can do more of that.
Is the weather still cooling down there? we have had the typical spring going back and forth from warm to cold. and quite windy some days.

hope everyone is being kind and gentle to you.

Annette xxx

Hi all
xx


1 week progress report (hasn't the time flown by?!) .......


Things are gradually improving.

I still have an untold number of staples in an incredibly long incision, and a drain. Hopefully, the drain will be removed on Thursday, and then I can have a SHOWER on Friday

If not, then I will have to wait until Monday ......... and have the first celebratory shower on Tuesday

I have made an appointment with my hairdresser for this afternoon to get my hair WASHED. Oh JOY!

I still have to keep my left arm close against my body, to provide some support ................. and also as a reminder NOT to make many movements!

BUT ......... I can now move my left forearm and hand with more ease and without causing too much discomfort, so I can ....................... now type with 3 fingers .......... one of which is on my left hand!

I went out yesterday for the first time ...... for afternoon coffee. The coffee shop owners gave me a free latte, as a welcome back.

This has not been the most enjoyable time, but we're getting there!

Thank you everyone for your support, and good wishes.


s
xxxx

Hi all


Thank you everyone


Progress is being made ........ I can now type with 2 fingers, one on each hand!


I have to keep the upper part of my left arm tightly pressed against my body, but can move the lower part enough to get one finger to the keyboard!


OH's sister is down here staying with her son, but we are expecting her to visit later this morning. She leaves on Friday for a week in England .............. visiting their cousin who is fighting a recurrence of breast cancer.


I'm also waiting for the nurse to come, it's change-the-dressing day!


sylvia
xxx

Sylvia, good to see your post, hope it won't be too long before the staples are removed and that you are able to return to typing more easily.

Hi all
xxx

quick visit, one finger typing and all that.


Slowly improving ....... will be much better when the loooooong row of staples is removed.



Thank you all for your love and good wishes



sylvia
xxx

thanks Cynthia for the recent progress of our friend sylvia

please tell her I send my very best wishes and hope for her to be feeling much better very soon.

annette

No, the heart hasn't gone out of the message boards.....so many members care for each other on this site...... :-D


Here is the latest news from Sylvia - she is finding typing rather difficult as you can imagine......


Things are slowly getting better. I did create some worry in the hospital as my blood pressure would not come down.

It started at 183 just before the operation

reached over 200 on post-op

got as high as 227 on the ward late on Tuesday afternoon.

I did not have any other symptoms, such as headaches, etc, and felt pretty OK ............ having had very high bp before, I know how rotten it can make you feel!

They called in an internist, who prescribed another bp medication, but thought I should go home the next day as I might well feel better at home
........... with the caveat that I had to keep taking my own bp, and go to my own doctor or emergency if it did not come down.

Fortunately it is ................. highest now is 170, but it has been down in the 130s.

A Public Health nurse comes on Monday and Thursday to change the dressing,and will do any other necessary things, such as removing the staples.

Staple removal should be some time next week .... 7-10 days after the op,hopefully!

I am stapled up from here to eternity!


shouldn't fall apart any time soon!!


I see the surgeon on October 31st and will know then whether I will need any further treatment.




With love. Cx.

Thank you for that Cynthia, very good news and will continue thinking of Sylvia for her recovery.

very good news ! I was thinking of her today.

Good morning all.

Sylvia has asked me to post on this thread re her operation. You will be pleased to know that I have received the following email from her husband.

Sylvia had the surgery at 9:00am and was very awake and resting well by
2:00pm. No problems so she should be home tomorrow.




So that's good news then! :-D


Cx

gloomy grey skies today. maybe we will get that rain I need for the garden. the fruit trees are dry around the base, and its hard work bucketing them from the tank.
I dont use the hose from the mains water, as we have to pay very dearly for that. and as the tanks are near full.....buckets.

my lettuce and cucumber seeds have sprouted last two days. when they are big and strong I will plant them out into larger pots.

My lastest quilt has come to a stop. I sewed one row back to front so Had to unpick it and then I put it aside for another day when the mojo is good.

Feeling a little unwell today. Have to stay close to the bathroom.
my granson age 7 is going to the ENT surgeon today with his mum. He has had recurring tonsilitus ;as you all know; we are hoping he can have the op fairly soon.
its not good for him to be on antibiotics so much, and lately he has been trying to clear his throat, and hard to swallow.

best wishes to all

Dear Sylvia

definately not minor surgery, and no wonder you had a lot of pain all over. you must have been black and blue. but the best place to recover would be in your own home. so Can you get the nurse to come for a while?

yes you can be very positive that it will solve the problem.
and many more years with your oh and family. and especially the little boy from Nova Scotia.

My Son1 went to Halifax for 10 days not so long ago, and had a very nice time. They took the 3 hour ferry from Portland Maine, to visit her father who lives in Halifax

Much love and hugs for you, and may all be gentle for you.

Thanks, Annette


It amazed me last time that a mastectomy is not considered major surgery, because it does not involve cutting into the body cavity

Yet the incision runs, as I said, from breast bone to somewhere under the arm. Plus they have to go upto the collar bone, down to the waist, and from the breast bone almost as far round as the shoulder blade to ensure that all tissue is removed.

I wondered why I was hurting over such a large area ................ and the above is what the doctor told me!


That doesn't seem like "minor" surgery to me!!!




Ah well, I know it should solve the problem for once and all





sylvia
xx

Sylvia
daughter says,
steri strips are used with staples. for deep wounds

plastic skin spray is used with stitches. not so deep wounds

I think I would ask about the plastic spray, for the whole area.

Over here I can even get it in the pharmacy (chemist) its good for a variety of uses.
My daughter is on a wound dressing seminar today, I'll ask her when she comes for tea tonight. there might be some new thing she can tell me too.

Annette xx

Hi Annette

They haven't mentioned a spray ........ they talk about Steri-strips (little bits of tape), stitches or staples (which is what I had last time)

It will be a pretty long incision ...... it will go from my breast bone to under my arm


Plus ................. I seem to have an allergic reaction to practically every kind of tape that they use! The anaesthetist pulled a face when he read that!

I'm not allowed to have a bath until after the stitches or staples are removed, and even then have to keep the wound as dry as possible ....... but as I never have baths that doesn't worry me!


Yes, it is embarassing when you leave the lights on isn't it?!



sylvia
xx

dear Sylvia,
thinking of you today and leading up to the 2oth.
Hope the healing goes well and you are able to get back to routine activities quickly.

nice to have a haircut, and feel good. getting a hair wash during shower free days, makes one feel much happier.
do the surgeons use this plastic spray for the wound site?
I had that last time and it allowed me to take a bath if I was careful not to submerge the area.
sending all my love and best wishes.
reading back I see you are having salmon. Yum, my juices are coming on. Iove salmon and trout too.

Spring is on the way here, day temps around 14C to 17C. Still getting frosts, but he days are blue skies. Would like some more rain soon, as the grain crops need it, and yesterday I watered my 3 orange trees and the one mandarine.
Took all the oranges off last week, and now the trees are budding again.
I was late getting my gson to school today, because I left the lights on the car when I parked, and so got a flat battery.
I felt very embarrassed, to ask the guys to come and jump start me.
I think I need to get a warning sound fitted on my car, for leaving lights on.

Ann, i bet you are really lapping up the sun.
xox Annette

hi all
xxx


Had my hair cut today ..... hopefully that will keep it looking reasonably respectable during the 10 days or so before I will be able to have a shower after the op next week!


Although, my hairdresser did say that she would wash it for me if I could get in there (and be able to sit in the backward chair) ................ and she would only charge me a little over half the normal price


FINALLY, the weather has cooled down .......... it only got to a little over 20C today (as well as being cloudy for most of the day). But I find that so much more pleasant than whe it was close to 30C! That hot weather went on for over 2 weeks ..... incredible for September!

Not much other news!



Hope that Ann is having a wonderful time in Tenerife



sylvia
xxx

Moonbi I am so please that your son has got the trade he wanted in the Navy, I hope he enjoys it. Bottling all that fruit must pay off during the winter months. I envy you the variety.

Sylvia Pleased to hear you enjoyed the weekend with your friends, I did remember that you were away. At the moment we are in Tenerife the temp is 28 degrees which suits us and the nights are not too hot. All that salmon sounds delicious. Glad too that you have your Christmas planned, it will save you having to worry about any planning.
Worrying about the fire but I am pleased that the campus was safe and not affected other than by smoke. Nice to be able to feed the fire fighters with salmon, bet they appreciated that.

Hi all
xxx


forgot to say that we were going to visit our friends on Vancouver Island ..... we went over on Sept 1st, and came back yesterday (the 6th) ..... many apologies!


Hi Lavender ...........nice to see you. I'm in Canada, and so post mainly in the UK night, and spend a lot of time talking to myself :-D


I've been having a "slob day", relaxing after the busy but very enjoyable time away!

We got back late yesterday afternoon (Tuesday) after a great trip "overseas"! The weather was gorgeous, which meant that the 2-hour ferry trip each way was almost unbelievable ...... bright sun glinting off the waves, blue skies, and clear views of the mountains on both the mainland and the Island as we travelled up the Strait of Georgia between them.

We had a great time .... good food, good friends, and lots of talk. Our friends invited us to go to them for Christmas, so that is arranged

We went out for lunch to other friends twice, ................. one served cold sockeye salmon as a salad lunch. SHE had caught the fish (a large one) by herself about a week ago. Delicious!

The second lunch was also salmon .......... this time Salmon Wellington, wrapped in filo pastry. But he'd bought the fish from a fishmonger ..... and it was not sockeye


As you may gather, it is salmon season here!


Having had a very late start to the summer ....... not until July! ............... we are now having glorious weather, with daytime temperatures 25C and up, the kind we normally get in August. BUT the nights are cool, like they usually are in September, so it is easy to sleep!

I do find the daytime temperatures a little too warm ............ but, hey, at this time of year, it's better than rain!


OH was going to go into the Botanical Garden early today to catch up on things ....... but we woke up to the news that there was a forest fire on the university campus, right next to the Garden

The fire was on the side of the road across from the campus, on the VERY steep, forested slope down to the river. They have had to bring in a helicopter to help fight it.

The Garden was never seriously in danger ............... but their parking areas are being used as staging areas for the fire fighters, including landing for the helicopter.


As a result, the Welcome Back Salmon Barbecue for the Volunteer group, due to start at 11:00 am, was cancelled!

BUT the salmon was not wasted ....... the Garden staff bbq'd it for the fire fighters

The fire started in a cavity in a big tree down near the bottom of the slope, near the beach, and was probably human caused .............. the beach there is part of Vancouver's notorious Wreck Beach, very much a clothing optional area


It could have been a young person, a student, or one of the people who regularly sleep out down there.


We have been associated with the uni for over 40 years, and cannot remember a forest fire so close to campus buildings .......... literally just across a 2-lane road. The campus is surrounded by forests, but other small fires have been much further away, and there was never even a mention of possible evacuation ........ there was this morning, but it was mainly because of the amount of smoke.



sylvia
xx